Please join me in my quest to achieve a once impossible dream – to compete at an elite level and qualify to represent the USA at the Paralympics!

My personal goal is to do the equivalent of a triathlon every day for 15 days beginning on July 25 in order to raise money for a non-profit that is near and dear to my heart, Sportable. It will also get me ready to compete in the USA Paratriathlon National Championship in Cocoa Beach, Florida on September 20!

I became a Sportable athlete last year when I started getting serious about my training and needed some help with swimming and learning to compete with a bike tailored to my specific abilities. Little did I know that I would find a new home and community of other athletes who all shared a common goal – the desire to compete and push one another beyond their different abilities.

Sportable truly makes an impact in the lives of adaptive athletes – particularly among youth who might feel marginalized or like they don’t fit in. I want to ensure that everyone has access to participate in a life-changing opportunity through sport. Whether it is to compete at an elite level or just to join a team for recreational competition, Sportable can make dreams come true for athletes like me.

So, please consider making a gift to Sportable and support me in my 15-day triathlon challenge!

Updates:

Day 1 of 15: Today, I attended an open water swim at Pleasants Landing at Lake Anna where I completed a 950 yard swim, I then went on my own for a 12.4 mile bike and a 3.25 mile run.

Day 2 of 15: Today, started with a 6:15 am 4 mile run. My wife and the girls then dropped me off at the Patrick Henry YMCA with my bike for an 8 am swim reservation. I swam 850 yards then packed up and biked 15.6 miles home. All done before it got too hot and humid. As I write this, I’m reminded of how difficult this will be, my legs are sore (more than I thought for today). While I set several new segment PR’s for the bike route, I pushed too hard on the bike and I’m feeling it now.

Day 3 of 15: Today, started before the sun came up and ended after the sun went down. Started this morning pulling the sun up with a 3.3 mile run. Then off to Chickahominy YMCA for a 1200 yard swim before work. After work was a little too hot to start the bike with the heat index at 104 degrees so Sportable competitive cycling training was canceled. This gave me the opportunity to speak with Josh Sloan, Sportable's outreach coordinator and podcast host. I then waited for it to “cool down” and rode 20 miles before the light was gone.

Day 4 of 15: Started today at 5:45am at Northside Family YMCA for a 900 yard swim, followed by a 3.75 mile run completed before 7:30! This evening I joined the Richmond Area Bicycle Association (RABA) Hanover Courthouse ride. We started with a 31 mile plan, storms all around us cut our ride to 24 miles, but we beat the storms!  

Day 5 of 15: I slept in, started today at 6:45am with every triathlete’s favorite workout: a triple brick (bike 4.72 mi, run 1.13mi, repeat) focusing on negative splits for overall consistent pacing and transitions (4th discipline of triathlon). Bike: 14.1 miles, run: 3.4 miles. This afternoon, I went to Patrick Henry YMCA and was able to swim nearly my longest single swim at 2000 yards and in the allowable swim time.

Day 6 of 15: Started today at 5:45am at Northside Family YMCA for a 1000 yard swim. Thanks to my neighbor for joining me for the last four of my 6.25 miles this morning, giving me the push I needed to complete the long run day. This evening brought a bike ride by avoiding the radar 19 miles completed before the rain started.

Day 7 of 15: One week completed! Started today at 6:00am at Northside Family YMCA for a 1200 yard swim. Returned home for a hard 5K and needed a good cool down to clear the lactic acid rounding out 4 miles. This evening I went to the Capital Trail for a solo ride and made it 21.3 cutting it the closest I have yet with the rain.

Day 8 of 15: strait through training day!  Started today at 7:00am at Patrick Henry Family YMCA for a 1200 yard swim. From there to the weekly Richmond Area Bicycling Association Saturday morning ride for 43.1 miles with a fast crew. I then ran 3.1 miles in Laurel after putting the bike in the car and grabbing my running shoes. 

Day 9 of 15: strait through training day, finishing in the heat!  Started today at 8:00am at Patrick Henry Family YMCA for a 1500 yard swim. From there to Carter Park, in Ashland, for a 30.2 mile ride with RABA friends. I then ran 3.1 miles through a well marked course through Ashland after putting the bike in the car and grabbing my running shoes. 

Day 10 of 15: Started today at 5:45am at Northside Family YMCA for a 1200 yard swim. I then ran 3.2 miles before 7:40! This evening we had Sportable competition cycling practice and we got in 13.7 miles before the sky opened up.

Day 11 of 15: Late start today, due to a little hurricane named Isaias, with a lunch 3.2 miles run. After work went for a 1500 yard swim at Chickahominy YMCA followed by Hanover Courthouse Richmond Area Bicycle Association ride for a fast and fun 33.2 miles. I did receive disappointing news this evening when I returned home, Nationals has been canceled! The host race will still go on, and there will be a Paratriathlon division as the Southeast championships, just not as Nationals.

Day 12 of 15: I started today at Northside Family YMCA at 5:45 for a 1200 yard swim at my fastest average, and with my initial 825yards( ~race distance) at my fastest yet (1:54/100yds). I followed with a 3.2 miles run. After work I went for a 18.4 mile bike ride.

Day 13 of 15: I started today at Northside Family YMCA at 5:45am for a 1000 yard swim, followed by a 3.1 miles run in Northside. I took off from work and did a short bike/ run brick at Dorey Park as part of Sportable outreach efforts adding an additional 0.7 mile to the run. I stayed after the interview completing 15.5 bike miles on the Capital Trail.

Day 14 of 15: Today began at Northside Family YMCA at 6:00am for a 1000 yard swim, followed by a 3.1 miles run in Northside. I then completed 15 solo bike miles this evening. I will need to swim 900 yards tomorrow to meet my 10 mile goal for the swim( the only event I need more than the sprint triathlon distance). As of today, I am 46 miles over my 250 mile goal for the bike, and 8 tenths(0.8) of a mile over my original 50 mile running goal.

Day 15 of 15: Goals accomplished! Today, I did a self created tour of Ashland triathlon. It was a beautiful morning to finish this challenge. The temperature was just right, it was overcast and not raining. I started by swimming 900 yards at Patrick Henry YMCA, I created a 12.8 mile bike route that took me around the town limits of Ashland, such a beautiful area of Hanover county. I finished with a 5K run in town going down Center Street and getting almost to the train station before returning to finish. I attempted to have today as a race. 10-15 minute transitions happen when I have to put together and break down the bike wheel to fit in my car, and I had to sit at one major intersection through two signal cycles on the bike because there wasn’t a car that came up behind me to trigger the sensor. I improved my time in both the swim and the run today as compared to my last triathlon race and I was very close on the bike.

For 15 days I completed the equivalent of 15 sprint triathlons or further. The sprint distance is the distance that is raced in Paralympic Games.

A Sprint Triathlon consists of a 750 meter(820 yards) swim, 20K (12.4 miles) bike, and a 5K (3.1 miles) run.

An Olympic Triathlon is twice the distance for each phase of a sprint and is the competition distance in the traditional Olympics. 1500(0.93 mile) meter swim, 40K bike(24.8 miles), 10K run (6.2 miles).

An Ironman Triathlon is much longer consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run(marathon).

My final challenge Stats:
Totals: Swim - 10.00 miles, Bike - 308.81 miles, Run - 53.94 miles.

Triathlons completed based on distances:
Sprint: 17
Olympic: 8
Ironman: 2